This session focuses on addressing opioid use disorder (OUD) in acute care settings, where treatment decisions often fall to them and carry lasting consequences for patients. This session walks through identifying OUD, assessing withdrawal, and choosing the right medication treatment when fentanyl exposure, pain, trauma, and psychiatric comorbidity complicate the picture. Participants will work through standard and alternative buprenorphine induction strategies, methadone initiation, and how to manage precipitated withdrawal when things do not go as planned. We will close with disposition planning, naloxone provision, discharge prescribing, and how to build a warm handoff that actually holds.
Educational Objectives:
- Recognize OUD in hospitalized patients and assess withdrawal using standardized measures.
- Select and initiate first-line MOUD in the hospital, performing standard induction or applying micro or macro initiation when the clinical situation calls for it.
- Manage precipitated withdrawal along with common comorbidities, such as co-occurring pain and PTSD, that complicate treatment decisions.
- Match patients to the appropriate level of continuing care and execute effective linkage to ongoing treatment.